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Re: Housing - Build vs. Buy

Depends on what part of the country you are buying and how many houses are on the market. We we bought our house a couple years ago there were a lot of new houses on the market but they were not being discounted. A year later they were being discounted. In my area of town (johnston) it doesn't seem like there are a lot of these new models available.

We bought a house that was 2 months from being done so we got to pick out things like counter tops, flooring, etc. I think it would be nice to build from scratch but I've heard a lot of stories about people going way over budget.

I think your best bet is to buy a couple year old house that's had the expensive things done like finished basements,landscaping, etc. It's definitely a buyers market.

Re: Housing - Build vs. Buy

While I agree with dmclone, but I would also say that it is a good time to build as well. I am a builder down in Des Moines and while I have been blessed and been able to stay pretty busy, I know a lot of builders are taking a lot lower profits to get a contract because the spec market is still very saturated.

Re: Housing - Build vs. Buy

It depends. I built and acted as the GC on our house. I did it because I wanted a say in the layout, and wanted to live in the country but couldn't find anything in the country I liked. With that being said, I did have a say in the layout, but after being in the house for a year have come up with about 50 things I would do differently so it really didn't matter. You just don't know those things until you live in one. I saved some money, but I'm not really sure the hassle was worth it. There are hundreds of decisions to make, and if you're not timely on them it holds up the subs costing you money. If you are not looking for anything unique, I'd jump into the foreclosure market and start chucking low balls at them. That's where the deals are. I've even seen half finished foreclosures in Ankeny. It's like dating hot chicks - 99 out of 100 will tell you to get lost but you only need one to say yes!

So if you're going to build, plan on doing two houses. The first one will be to learn how to do it, and the second one will be the way you want it.

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